Zadar and a light show.

Zadar is on the Croatian coast in the province of Dalmatia (place that gave a name to a certain brand of spotty K9s made famous by Mr Disney). In NZ Dalmatian gum diggers (and here) are part of their early Europen history.  F had planned this trip so as to follow the Adriatic coast rather then go by the faster inland route which would have been Thessaloniki, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany Belgium and France; in other words the eastern half of the former Yugoslavia. Anyway we followed the coast but we never saw any sea. There always seemed to be a mountain in the way. Ho hum.

We arrived in Zadar late in the day so sightseeing was eventually done in the dark. There is an Old Town and we were staying very close by therefore a walking tour was undertaken, over a very smart bridge spanning the harbour,  from which we studied squillions of little fish swirling about as they were 'herded' by large ones.

Ok you have to squint and use your imagination. We could see them very clearly, but effectively photographing small fish underwater in the dark with a phone is probably more science than art.

We strolled through the Old Town which has remarkably smooth paving stones, so really  shiny that they almost glowed. F was clearly on a mission and when we got to the other side we found out why. She had read about the sea organ and the Greeting to the Sun light sculpture, and as it turned out in the dark was the best way to appreciate both.

Here for your entertainment is a recording of a short extract from a unique performance of the sea organ, the entirety of which was the background for a relaxed sit in the dark,  a contemplation, or some breakdancing on the disco dance floor effect of the installation sun (and planets) light thingie. It was definitely way more cool than the photos convey.

Neptune
(we tried to photograph Earth but its lights had gone out!)

We also stopped to study a big (really big) round church - Saint Donatus. Sorry Zadar but it is not an elegent or attractive church and the most interesting (and decorative) thing about it seemed to be its foundations which looked like they were made of pieces of a possibly Roman building that may have existed on the site before the church.

Exhausting stuff.

Early departure today... Slovenia next.